Looks like
- Customers who customers who might potentially be financially vulnerable
Might need to be updated to
- Customers who we think might potentially be financially vulnerable
Or alternatively
- Customers who might potentially be financially vulnerable
We’ll be writing to our current Paper Billing customers to let them know about these changes. We'll send customers a QR code, which will take them to a form where they can select paperless billing going forward.
Err,
Do you really think that most customers still on paper billing even know what a QR code is, let alone how to use one?
OK you do mention exceptions for those on PSR etc,
But I have got my disability/welfare advisor hat on here - and know that many who have paper billing struggle with computers, which is why they still have paper billing.
Not sure this change is aimed at those customers though - the exemptions do seem pretty wide and would probably cover quite a few of them.
I’d say it’s more about those who are capable of using Paperless without issue but don’t.
Hi @Blastoise186,
Thanks for the correction there!
Hi @Nukecad,
Do you really think that most customers still on paper billing even know what a QR code is, let alone how to use one?
OK you do mention exceptions for those on PSR etc,
But I have got my disability/welfare advisor hat on here - and know that many who have paper billing struggle with computers, which is why they still have paper billing.
This is a valid point. We’d advise any customers who may be worried or struggling with this change to get in touch with the Support team. They’d be able to help further with this. We hope this change won’t impact our most vulnerable customers too much as many of them would be excluded.
Just to point out what appears to be an outdated statement in an official help article:
“We email and post your OVO statements to you every month.”
“from 1st December 2024, we’ll start charging £1.50 a month for sending paper letters.”
+
“Going paperless helps save energy and stops paper waste”
=
Going paperless does not save you money: OVO will pocket the saving and pass it on to their share holders. You won’t see any of it.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-6748633/The-paper-bill-rip-Telecoms-giants-charging-36-year-posted-statements.html
Actually @origami , I respectfully disagree.
There is a cost to print the bills, stuff them into envelopes and post them out. Given the rates Royal Mail charge these days even with volume discounts, most of that £1.50 will be gobbled up just by getting the Postie to stick the envelope through your letterbox.
The profits from this for OVO? Almost certainly 0p.
For those using Paperless Billing there is NO saving for OVO - it merely means that OVO doesn’t have to also incur the cost of posting them out on top of paying for a billing system that’s perfectly capable of emailing them out en masse every month.
We got the letter advising us of the change a couple of weeks ago.
Scanned the QR code (yes @Nukecad, we do know how to do it) only to find that apparently the code is not supported. Ok, we'll do it online via the given address.... which led nowhere except a list of different OVO addresses, all unconnected to what we want to do.
Do a search on OVO's website and it tells you that, after all, you can't make the change without reaching out to their support team.
Perhaps they want us to pay an extra £1.50 a month after all.
Hey @Itinerant
I’m really sorry the QR code & online link didn’t work for you. That sounds very frustrating.
I’ve not seen any other community members report this issue, but I'll report this internally incase it’s a known issue. Thank you for flagging.
Hi Emmanuelle, and thank you for responding to my comment.
Just a quick update: my phone (android) is still saying that the QR code is not supported but changing browsers from Chrome to Edge let me tap straight into the web address.
So, all sorted.
Cheers!
I have just received a letter informing me of this, I am a pay as you go customer recently moved across from Boost.
I have tried to log into my online account but it says that pay as you go accounts are not supported.
Does this letter apply to me? If so, where can I change my preferences?
Many thanks in advance.
I just received a letter from you about the forthcoming charge for paper documents. It says to go online to switch to paperless but I couldn’t see anywhere to do that. Can you enlighten me please.
Anyone? Where on my account page can I switch to paperless?
It seems that you can’t currently do that on your account.
The online guidance states:
How do I go “paperless” and manage my bills online with OVO?
We’re glad you asked! After all, paperless statements save on trees, postage and ink.
At the moment, it’s not possible to request this in your online account. Instead, it’s best to reach out to our Support team, who’ll be able to make this change for you.
https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/annual-statements
I’d just give them a ring tomorrow.
Why did the letter say it’s best done online?
I haven’t got a clue,
maybe a ‘left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing’ situation?
But as it isn’t showing on your account then that still leaves options of contacting support by phone, webchat, or social media, to have it done.
I emailed them earlier. They must have sent 000’s of these letters out - threatening £1.50 charges if you didn’t go paperless. Is that correct or have they got that wrong also?
Many/most companies (not just energy suppliers) now charge for sending out paper billing, and £1.50 is cheaper than most charge for it.
To be fair it does cost quite a bit to send out paper bills, much more that paperless.
eg This is from the BT website:
Paper bill charge
There's a £3 charge for BT Broadband customers who get a paper bill to cover costs such as printing and postage. You'll have to pay the fee each time you get a bill through the post.
You can avoid the fee by logging in to your My BT account, stopping your paper bills and switching to online-only billing. It's simple, flexible and better for the environment.
Many/most companies (not just energy suppliers) now charge for sending out paper billing, and TBH £1.50 is cheaper than most charge for it.
To be fair it does cost quite a bit to send out paper bills, much more that paperless.
eg This is from the BT website:
Paper bill charge
There's a £3 charge for BT Broadband customers who get a paper bill to cover costs such as printing and postage. You'll have to pay the fee each time you get a bill through the post.
You can avoid the fee by logging in to your My BT account, stopping your paper bills and switching to online-only billing. It's simple, flexible and better for the environment.
I wasn’t querying the amount of the charge, just the veracity of it.
I just realised there was a section in the letter below where it says ‘The quickest way to go paperless is to tell us online’ Which includes a URL: hello.ovoenergy.com/paperless D’uh, Tut!
Then a to and fro just to give OVO my email which surely they already had. Honestly, they’ve made it all overly complicated!
Hhaa, so it's a seperate ‘go online’ link in the letter, and not in your account at all.
(I've always been paperless with SSE/OVO so I didn't get a letter).
For others who have had the letter regarding going paperless and are struggling to find it:
Click here to bring up the 'Go Paperless' form.
You will need:- your account number, the security code from your letter, and of course an email address for OVO to send paperless communications to.
The letter has “The quickest way to go paperless is to tell us online” in large bold print. The section below with the URL is printed small and faint. My old eyes just didn’t register it. The people at OVO who produce these things should take into account that many customers are elderly and may not see so well. I think it’s called being inclusive.
It should be simple.
In your Ovo profile you can select how you want marketing communications from Ovo.
You can select email & unselect any others. Ideally this should ensure everything goes paperless.
However, from past experience with Ovo, I suspect that this is not how Ovo have set this up.
@ovocustomer2024 not the same thing. That’s for Marketing stuff only. TBH OVO doesn’t really send that stuff by post anyway.
http://hello.ovoenergy.com/paperless is the way to go if you want to switch to paperless billing.
Where on my account can i see if i am on the paperless billing option.
